The Last Post...

December 18, 2009
I thought it would be fitting to end this blog the same way that it started back on September 22—in the Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris. The day today started with catching a bus to the Athens airport at 4 am and we’ve been going non-stop since. Our flight from Athens to Paris was delayed an hour which we thought was actually ok considering we got a free breakfast out of it and it would cut down on our 8 hour layover in Paris. Unfortunately our flight back to the states was delayed 3 hours. Normally, I’d be ticked, but I’ve come to realize these things and the delay was fitting as it has become kind of a theme for the trip….expect the unexpected.
I am insanely sleep deprived, but thought I would drop one last blog post just to wrap things up…
This past week was great. Stressful, but great. Berlin was fantastic and it was great to catch up with Ben and Kristy and just share some great times together. I really am lucky to have people like them in my life and this past weekend was a great reminder of that. Following the Berlin weekend was a few days of finals, shopping, cleaning, and packing. It was really busy, but realizing that it was the end of the trip allowed me to enjoy the everyday things in Athens that I had come to take for granted a little bit. Brad Woodend, one of my best friends from home told me to “drink in the city” the last few days and I tried to do that as we just spent time together with friends in Athens.
Last night (it feels like weeks ago because I haven’t slept in over 24 hours) we went to one last dinner as a group at one of our favorite restaurants with a great view of the Acropolis and shared some memories and laughs that we won’t soon forget. Then a few of us went up to Mars Hill and just hung out one last time with the city of Athens sparkling in the night sky as a perfect backdrop.
I really wish I could find the words to describe this experience as a whole. Overall, it has been phenomenal. Sure, there were some tough times and some days I felt like getting on the next plane home, but I wouldn’t have traded any of these past few months for anything. I really consider myself blessed to have taken part in this semester abroad. I feel that God’s used this semester to teach me so much on so many levels. I’ve learned about God’s faithfulness, His might, His power, and just how amazing the gift of His son Jesus to the entire world is. I’ve learned about myself. I’ve learned about others. And of course, I’ve learned about cultures and the world in general.
I’ve met some great people, made some great friends, and shared some fantastic memories. I feel that I’ve grown personally so much this semester and gained experience that will be very beneficial to me in the future. God really has taught some powerful lessons to me in ways that I never thought I would learn them. It’s crazy to think that just one year ago this time, the thought of studying abroad had never crossed my mind seriously and I never expected to be sitting here, in the Paris airport reflecting on three of the best months of my life.
I was talking to my Dad last night on Skype in preparation for my homecoming and just couldn’t seem to sum up the whole experience. It definitely is a bittersweet feeling. In a way, I can’t wait to return to the places and most of all, the people that I love the most in the world. However, I’ll miss this place. The one way I could summarize this semester is this. I am blessed. I am blessed more than I ever deserve to be and feel fortunate to be put in a situation where I’ve been able to experience and see things that the vast majority of people will never be able to see or experience in their lifetime. For that, I’m so, so grateful.
I’m also thankful for the people that have held me up in prayer the past three months. I know for sure that those tough days would have been much tougher without your support. Thank you. I can’t overstate how grateful I am for you who have supported me from thousands of miles away. You know who you are. My only regret here was not being able to share in these unique, once-in-a-lifetime experiences with you.
Well, we are boarding our last flight in about half an hour and I should get ready for that. I hope that this blog was a good way for you to have an idea of what I’ve been up to. I hope that it has been a blessing to you in the same way writing it has been a blessing to me. I hope to be able to share with you in the future in more detail of just how great this time has been. Thanks for reading.
Yasas,
Ryan

Possibly the Last Post from Athens...

It's Wednesday afternoon and I've been sitting here writing a paper for the last few hours and figured I'd take a break by...writing? Anyway, it's crunch time. I've got a 15 page job sitting in front of me and about a week to do it. I'm not too worried because I've only got about 10 pages left and plenty of time. It sure has been great having such a laid-back schedule this semester. I don't wanna think about the spring semester, though...definitely gonna be tougher than this semester, that's for sure. Finals start next Tuesday, but I have a great kinda "end to the dream semester" trip planned out this Friday-coming Monday.
I'm going to fly to Berlin and meet up with Ben and Kristy Williams. Ben was my small group leader in high school for youth group and since then, he and Kristy have gone to the Ukraine to serve as missionaries there. It's been about a year since I've last seen them, so I'm really excited to connect again. They are two of the most amazing people I've ever met and outside of my parents, probably have had the greatest impact on my life in so many areas. Needless to say, I'm really pumped to hang with them for a few days and see a great city, too. I hear Berlin is fantastic. We're going to eat some really great food and see some really great, famous sights, including a day trip to a concentration camp. I'm really looking forward to that, although I don't anticipate having a great time. It will just be interesting and really humbling to see what we've learned so much about in school over the years.
I'm also looking forward to getting out of southern Europe a bit and venturing into a different area. Rome and Greece were both warm, although very different cities, but Berlin should be something completely new. I was in Prague a few years ago, and absolutely loved it, so hopefully the Berlin experience is similar. I am not going to be prepared for the snow and wind, but hey, it should be a nice change of pace and good preparation for winter weather at home after spending three months on same parallel as Florida. Anyway, I should really get back to my paper. The sooner I get this done, the sooner I can start my "last time I'll see this tour" around Athens. I anticipate getting back to the Acropolis, Mars Hill, and Lycavittos Hill one more time.
I'll try and post one more time (maybe a little more sentimental?) before I leave, but if not, it's been good to hear that this has been a good way to keep everyone at home up to date. I'm lucky to have people in my life that care so much. Thanks for reading.
-Ryan

Real Quick Catch Up...

Alright, so this is gonna be a little bit of a mini-post, but I thought I'd hop on the blog real quick and let everyone know what I've been up to. Right now, it's 1 am and I'm at the internet cafe with a Greek quiz looming in just 8.5 hours. Not cool, considering I am kind of stuck here due to the fact that its pouring outside and it's a decent walk back.
Anyway, this past weekend, I was blessed with the opportunity to go to Rome and Venice. I went with a few other people from the group and it was an absolutely fantastic weekend. The highlights were definitely The Vatican (St. Pete's Basilica) and The Coliseum. Really, I could talk about this all day, but I'll save it for later, I guess. It was just so great to see stuff like the Sistine Chapel, famous St. Mark's Square in Venice, and do things like climb to the top of the Vatican with a great view overlooking Rome, and take a gondola ride on the Grand Canal in Venice. Unreal, really. The food was absolutely unbelievable, too. If I lived in Italy, I'd be in serious trouble, because the food there is that good. All in all, it was a great weekend. It was only fitting that it was over Thanksgiving and it really made me realize I have a ton to be thankful for. God has given me a great family, great friends, and a hundred times more than I need in this life. Most of all he's given me the gift of salvation, which is really, the greatest thing I have to be thankful for.
So yeah, that was Rome. This week so far has been hectic. Things are winding down for school and that means everything is due in the next few weeks. I'm freaking out a little because I've got two monster papers and a few finals coming up as well. So this weekend I'll be staying in and studying and writing for about 12 hours a day. Should be a blast.
I'm doing great, although I am getting really homesick. Experiencing all the stuff in Rome made me think about how great it would be to share everything with my family and friends, which kind of made me miss them more, but the positive is that I have just 2 weeks left here. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love it here, but I am more than ready to get back to the states and the people that I love the most. It's hard to believe I only have a few weeks left, but that's another blog post for another time.
Ciao,
Ryan

This Past Week/Weekend

This week was pretty much gone in a flash…The weekend was sick, so that’s what I’ll kind of focus on for this particular post. I had my second Greek quiz this week. That was a little rough, but hey, waddayagonnado. I’m not gonna worry about what I got on it now. The time to do that was prior to the quiz, so that time as come and gone already. Other than that, the week was uneventful, and filled with the routine of school, hunting for the internet and winding up at the café, watching movies at night, studying, and also mundane tasks like laundry and grocery shopping.

The weekend, however, was sweet. We had a few visitors from the BCA England program (they go to Messiah back home) and that was a nice change of pace. We got to show them around “our city” and do the tourist thing on Saturday, then we went out at night and had a blast with them. Today (Sunday) we went to a soccer game together, which turned out to be an even crazier fan base than the basketball game. Three metro stops from the Olympic Stadium, the fans on the metro started chanting and singing loud enough to shake the train itself. We all knew from that point on, we were in for quite the experience. Turns out, the use of smoke bombs with your respective team’s colors, flares (bearing the same color), and cannons being fired throughout the game are completely normal for European soccer. Just as normal as the smoke bombs was cursing out the other team, the other team’s fans, and the referees. My Greek vocabulary expanded to twice its previous size in a matter of just 90 minutes.

It was a great time and the game wasn’t half bad either. It was also great to see the Olympic Stadium and the entire complex from the 2004 Games. It was impressive to say the least. Prior to going to the game, though, I went to church today at St. Andrew’s International Church. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve made in ages here. The church was a breath of fresh air and it was refreshing and uplifting to have some fellowship with other Christians. I went with my friend, Alyssa, from Messiah and we both said at least half a dozen times that we wished we had found the church sooner. The service is held in The German Evangelical Church, but it’s in 100% English and the people who went all speak it fluently. The building itself is really sweet, too. It’s super old and has some awesome stained glass going on in the front. It’s a decent sized church and at a glance you’d think it was a very stiff, traditional church. However, it was a pretty modern service and it was great to sing some hymns and modern worship songs as well. I really, really loved it and can’t wait to go back. This church really seemed to be focused on the gospel and it was great to get my own focus back on how awesome Jesus’ work on the cross is.

The speaker was a guest speaker this week and he spoke on how universal the gospel is and how it applies to every person in every nation of the world. I’ve been reminded several times through nature, sermons, and other ways of how big God is over the course of this trip. However, I’ve made on huge mistake. I’ve gotten wrapped up in God’s enormity (which is worthy of getting wrapped up in), yet I’ve stopped at that point. I’ve neglected to realize that the reason that God’s enormity is so great is that He, in all of his huge-ness and power, sent his Son to earth to redeem and save me and anyone else who wants to follow him. Wow. THAT is what I should have been focused on. The fact that the gospel of Jesus transcends borders and cultures every bit as much as God’s creation and power and might is mind-blowing to me. Tom Mahairas, the speaker, broke it down really simply today and just used John 3:16. He emphasized that God so loved the WORLD. As I sat there and looked around, it gave me goosbumps. It really did. There had to be probably 20 different nationalities in that church. Everyone probably came from extremely different backgrounds, but had one common bond. They all realized that Jesus came to save them and it didn’t matter what they had done, where they were from, or anything else. All that matters is that Jesus came to save them. Tom also spoke on God’s value system. His point was this: We need to remain humble, but realize one fact. That fact is that God values one soul more than anything in the world. And if His gospel and value applies to you, it applies to the person living next door, in the next state, or in the next country. Heck, it applies to the person living in the next bedroom over in my case. That was very sobering for me. It’s so awesome to think that God’s power and might and strength is so infinite and unfathomable, but the fact that he sent His perfect, blameless Son to bear the weight of MY own sin (and anyone else’s as well) PROVES that his love is just as great as his might and power. That carries with it the conclusion that we should be loving people as Jesus would and seeing that they matter to God more than anything in the world. That’s tough to do for me a lot of the time, and honestly, I have to remind myself of that constantly. So yeah, that’s what’s been on my mind. It’s definitely something for me think about and try to live out more effectively.

It’s been a great weekend for me and I really did love that church and got a ton out of the sermon. However, it’s 3 am and I’ve got a research proposal to do tomorrow, so I need to peace. Hard to believe I’ll be back in the states in less than 4 weeks. This semester really keeps flying by. Crazy stuff.

-Ryan

p.s. More pics are up on facebook (from this past weekend)..Feel free to check em out.

What's Been Going On...

Wow. Just over a month left. I still can’t believe how ridiculously fast things are moving here. It still feels like we were just getting situated in our apartments. In a small way, I’m ready to go home, but for the most part, I’ve really fallen in love with this place. Sure, it gets a little old when no one speaks your language fluently, but I love the culture and the lifestyle here. I’ve always said I want to live in a city when I get done with school, but never really knew how I would like it. These past few months have been an affirmation in a way, of my desire to live in a city when I finish up in the next few years. The homesickness has pretty much subsided for the time being, and I’m doing much better in that aspect than I thought I would. I guess I’m having so much fun here that there’s not much time to think about what I’m missing back at school. That being said, my roommates and I were talking the other night about what would make this experience better, and we all agreed it would be having our friends and family with us to share in it. I miss everybody at home a ton, and can’t wait until Christmas with my family and then going back to school to see everyone.

Lately, it’s kind of been the same schedule that I wrote about before…no need to re-hash the fact that Greek class still kicks my but on a bi-weekly basis for an hour and a half at a time, the rest of the classes are a joke, and life here is a big party. All in all, things are awesome.

The one pretty exciting/unique thing I did this weekend was attend a Greek basketball game. I’d been planning on going to an Olympiakos game since day one, so it was sweet that the schedule worked out so that I could go. I got a ticket for 20 Euro and when I walked into the stadium, I knew it would be different from an NBA game. The first thing I noticed was that the place was full of smoke. It was like a bar full of 10,000 people puffing away on their cigarettes. Apparently, it’s ok to smoke in an arena. The next thing that was totally different, but ten times better than the NBA atmosphere was that there was a fan base that was so intense that the only way to describe them would be to use the word rabid. These guys were freakin nuts. I mean, we’re talking drums, flags, and banners hung out with pretty bold statements like THE KING OF EUROPE IS HERE and some Greek statements that I wouldn’t feel comfortable writing on here. The best way I can describe it would be that it was similar to the soccer firms of England. They chanted and sung back and forth across the arena and again, said some stuff that wouldn’t be suitable for a family-friendly blog like this one. The girl I went with told me that a few years back there was a stampede of the court after Olympiakos won the Euroleague championship and several people were trampled and killed after the fan section rushed out of Gate 7 of the stadium. I guess that explained all the GATE 7 signs hanging around the fan section…it’s like they were advertising the fact that they were so nuts that the opposing fans better not forget that a few years back they trampled and killed some people. Simply nuts. They would have put Flanagan’s Freaks back at RV to shame, and that’s saying a lot. We got to our seats and saw that people were sitting in them. There was thing number three that was different from the NBA. Apparently you get tickets, but only the section applies. “Seats don’t (expletive) matter here you (expletiving expletive)” was the response I got as I tried to get the guy out of the seat that I payed for. Turns out, he knew English pretty well. At least a few words I guess. I got some strong language from some people behind me for blocking their view of the Olympiakos dancers, who would have been arrested for indecent exposure in any arena in America (there’s difference number 4). So, it turned out we had to find new seats and I found myself moving up to the third row and getting stuck in the heart of the fan group. It was definitely an experience, to say the least. I chanted, clapped, and sung with them for the first half so that I wouldn’t wind up like any of those people from Gate 7 a few years back. Needless to say, we moved after the first half. All around, though, it was a great game. It was cool to see how transcendant sport is, and how, although we were thousands of miles away from where the game originated, it was still the same. There were still pick-and-rolls, iso’s, and low post moves. People still hated the refs, and the fans still booed the other team (they also threw stuff at them (difference number 5)). It was also cool to see American players over here…pretty well known guys, too, such as Josh Childress, and several others who had pretty solid pro and collegiate careers and were easily recognizable names in the basketball world.

That was Thursday night, and I’ve basically spent the last few days just hanging out around the city and with my roommates in the apartment. There was a group that went to Ireland and Rome this weekend from within our study abroad group, so it was a pretty slow weekend. I tried going to church yesterday, but we got there only to find it was “St. Andrew’s Day” (a holiday, I guess, in Greece). So instead of church, there was a picnic. We’re gonna go back next week because it seemed like a pretty solid evangelical church…

I’m starting to get pumped for the next few weekends…First, I’m heading to Italy (Rome and Venice), then on the last weekend that we’re here I’m meeting up with Ben and Kristy Williams in Berlin, which should be an awesome time. Hard to believe I only have two more weekends left in this awesome city…I’d better put together a Christmas list.

Peace,

Ryan

P.S. check out the pics on facebook i put up...Around Athens is the name of the album...Kind of a visual representation of this post...

Just warning ya: This is a little heavy....

The last few days have pretty much been a rollercoaster of emotions for me here in Athens…mainly due to the Phillies and the outcomes of the World Series games. The staying up until 6 or 7 am to watch the games was starting to take its toll on me, as well. Unfortunately, the Phils’ season ended last night and even more unfortunately, the Evil Empire regained the title of World Champs. I saw a kid wearing a Yanks hat today at the Acropolis and had thoughts of accidentally pushing him over the side….although I was more than extremely disappointed about the loss, part of me was relieved that I wouldn’t be missing a parade down Broad Street this year. I may have considered calling it a semester and getting on the first plane to Philly International.

We had Greek again today, which is turning out to be tougher than expected. What’s worse is that Stella, our prof, has a knack for calling on me as I am either: a) taking notes and not anticipating answering a question, b) dozing off, or c) completely lost and unaware as to what she wants me to say in this weird foreign language. The best part of the class is walking out the door at 11 am on each Thursday and calling it a week. Today I caught up on facebook and saw the dozen or so notifications from my friends who are Yankees fans. None were too pleasant. After reading through them and catching up on the Eagles news (NOW it’s football season) I decided to walk through the city and try to get some pictures for photo class…I got some good shots but found myself on Mars Hill, where Paul preached to the Athenians in Acts 17. I’d been here before but didn’t really get to enjoy it, as I was with a group the other times. This time I just brought my iPod and Bible and spent some time reading and in prayer. It turned out to be one of the best afternoons of my time here…It was so cool to have a view of the entire city of Athens and sit where Paul once preached to the Athenians.

I got back to the apartment and wound up talking Maddie and Heather, to a couple of friends from Messiah who mentioned that they had a chapel earlier in the week on Acts 17 and Paul’s message to the Athenians…pretty cool stuff. The passage really resonated with me and I just wanted to share what God’s put on my heart this afternoon.

-Verse 16-“While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.”-No joke. Athens still is jam packed of idols and temples to their gods. Heck, every other day, someone digs up something 5000 years old in this city…I’m sure half the time it has to do with Greek gods.

-Verse 22-“Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: "Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.”-Yep. Although people dig the Greek Orthodox church here, I get the impression a lot of it is based on tradition and history, not a personal relationship with God. Not to say there aren’t tons of people here who really love God…As a matter of fact, I think that there are countless people here that do. I’m just going off of what I’ve been told by Greeks themselves who have talked to me about it. It kinda makes me sad to see people going to church based on obligation or tradition, though (even though this happens in America, too).

-Verse 24-28-"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'” -Wow. Paul does some serious work here on crushing the notion that a) these temples, although impressive, don’t mean jack squat. First of all, Paul, says, these gods that the Greeks were building temples for were bologna. Second of all, Paul, states, God doesn’t need these temples. And secondly, his power and work on the cross through Jesus speaks for itself. I thought that was a pretty sweet thing to think about as I turned around and saw the freakin Acropolis staring me right in the face. I just realized I put an “a)” up there. Here’s your “b).” Paul goes on to say our job as God followers, as Christians, is not to be building temples and sick structures like the Acropolis like the Athenians did. It’s to spread the gospel and reach out to people who need to know Jesus in a personal way. These actions do more for God’s kingdom than any temple or statue could ever do. Paul says, that in God we have our meaning and we find life. He pretty much demolishes any idea that whatever the Athenians did on earth in terms of building stuff has lasting impact and that the only thing that mattered is what we did to share Jesus with others.

Needless to say, it was a thought-provoking afternoon. Like I said, though, it was one of the best of the semester for me. Yesterday was the halfway point of the trip here for me…Hard to believe, I know. But, spending that time alone with God definitely challenged me to take the second half and make an impact for Him, not just have a good time here in Athens. While I think this is gonna be really tough, verses 32 through 34 of Acts 17 offer some encouragement…”When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, "We want to hear you again on this subject." At that, Paul left the Council. a few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others.”

Wow! It's November Already....

Alright so it’s been awhile. I feel like every time I post, it’s been a while. Anyway, last time I wrote, I was going to Lycabettus Hill. Turned out to be an awesome decision. The semi-strenuous hike was worth it to be at the highest point in the city…It was sick to see 360 degrees of Athens. We even were able to spot our apartments from there. The best part of the night, however, was not the sunset from the chapel atop the hill, but finding a place called Simply Burger about half a mile from our apartment. We were all dying to get an American meal and we had heard rumors of this awesome burger place. Little did I know that I would get one of the biggest, best burgers ever there. The huge burger and fries was well worth the 11 Euros I paid and it definitely helped the burger craving.

That weekend was kind of a wash…it rained harder than I think anybody here had ever seen because the city was pretty much empty and the streets were flooded. Fortunately I had passed up on a weekend in Mykonos, a famous Greek island. They had the same weather and it threw off their plans even more. Needless to say, the soccer game I was planning on was cancelled.

Oh, we had off last Wednesday for Oxi Day...a national holiday here in Greece. It celebrates the day that the Greeks stood up to Nazi Germany during WWII...basically the day consisted of a parade around Syntagma Square of schoolchildren in really funny traditional dress and all the stores and restaurants being closed...Despite actually having to cook that night, it was a pretty fun day...

I’m starting to get into a little bit of a routine here…It’s been good to get into a semi-normal school schedule. We had our first photo class with our prof, who turned out to be a famous journalist in Europe. He’s the man. He showed up with a camera and his motorcycle helmet and rolled into class wearing sweats. He’s hilarious and I think the class will be really enjoyable. I’m already liking the assignments…I spent today hanging down by the Acropolis taking pictures and had a blast.

The past weekend was a good time…We headed to the first national cemetery on Saturday morning on account of the Halloween holiday (which no one celebrates here). The place was a little creepy, but unbelievably cool. People definitely got some awesome pictures for class, but unfortunately my camera died before we got there. We had our Halloween party that night and it was a really good time…I went as Kevin Costner since we met him on the street a few weeks ago…I lucked out and had similar clothes to the stuff he was wearing that day, so I had a decent costume and even got to avoid thinking of something to wear real hard for Halloween which is probably one of my least favorite activities.

That was Saturday and today is Monday night so I didn’t do a ton between now and then besides stay up until like 6 am watching the Phillies games, which I really don’t wanna even begin to start writing about in fear of punching a hole through my computer screen. The only thing more frustrating than watching your team struggle is watching your team struggle halfway around the world at 6 in the morning. Crappy play aside, it’s been good being able to watch the series…I have to give some serious props to Ryan Powell for hooking me up with his slingbox access code. Basically, I was able to watch his home tv over the internet here…..awesome to say the least even if I’ve only gotten 8 hours of sleep in the last few nights.

On a more serious note than basically goofing off, going to class, and watching the Phils, life here is starting to feel a bit more like “real life.” The first few weeks were ridiculous. We basically saw these unbelievable historical sites, explored the city, and enjoyed just being in a foreign country. I’m still loving the city and the freedom that I have over here and can’t get enough of exploring Athens….I try to see a new part of this huge place every chance I get…However, the school routine is making it feel more like school and less like a vacation…which is probably a good thing.

Tensions are starting to run a little high within the group and there’s been a little bit of drama and bickering between people, which is a little annoying. I think the combination of knowing people juuuuust well enough to tick them off and push their buttons and being homesick is starting to take its toll on everyone. I can’t complain though. It’s been great to grow in friendships with some people that I would never have expected to be friends with and learn a lot about myself and others in the process. I told someone the other day, I feel like even though I haven’t learned much academically here, I feel like I’ve learned more about myself and the world in the past 6 weeks that I did in the year of school leading up to this trip.

Alright, I’ve gotta run. Time to do some Greek homework.

Peace and love,

Ryan

$7.82 Frappucinos and Other Observations…

Alright, so I’m writing this from my living room in my apartment on Friday morning…About half of my classmates from the BCA program have taken off to Mykonos for another weekend in the Greek islands. I wanted to go, but felt like it wasn’t a great idea considering I have a bunch of stuff to do, the island is probably shut down for winter (even though it’s still 80 degrees) and I just wanted to decompress for a few days from a month of traveling and just going non-stop.

Anyway, I got up earlier than I wanted to because I met up with some of the girls in our program and went to an open market about 200 meters from my apartment…We’d gone before and gotten some great deals on fruit, so we went again today. It was definitely a pretty cool experience and a little overwhelming at the same time having Greek farmers yell at you from either side of the street to buy their stuff. After the market trip, I walked back and passed a Starbucks that is right down the street from my place…I’ve walked past it every day so I thought it was about time I compared Greek Starbucks to American Starbucks. I ordered a frappucino for 4.80…Euros. I’m not great at math, but when you adjust for the dollar sucking worse than the Mets this past season it comes to close to 8 bucks for a cup of coffee. I nearly told them to take it back. However, after I took my first sip of it, I realized one thing about Starbucks. They train their employees well. This Greek dude that made my frap not only spoke awesome English, but he made the drink exactly as the local BCC students would have if I ordered one at the Centerton Square Starbucks. Awesome. It was like a little taste of home. This experience prompted me to think about some of the other observations I’ve made lately after reflecting on my first month here. Here we go:

-I’ve watched some shows I never thought I would here simply because English TV is so hard to come by…some include: Oprah, E True Hollywood Stories, Ripley’s Believe it or Not (circa 1995), and some sitcoms from the 1980s. Good TV has consisted of House and CSI…Not much selection, but it makes you appreciate it at home so much more.

-Frappes (not frappucinos) need to come to America. They will change your life.

-The above statement also applies to cheese pies (basically really flakey pastries with amazing cheeses inside) siesta time, and GYROS.

-I’ve eaten approximately 30 gryos since I’ve been here.

-Greeks love club music. Doesn’t matter the time of day, either. Nothing like hearing blaring synthesizer at 8:30 in the morning.

-Crossing 4 lanes of insane Athens traffic 4 to 5 times a day gets a little old.

-I’ve decided when I retire it will be to Santorini.

-Apparently recycling trucks come at 4:45 in the morning in Athens.

-Just assume all stray dogs (and there are more than I’ve ever seen) in Athens carry tapeworm.

-Sea urchins live on rocks in the ocean just off the coast of Aegina. Be careful swimming out there.

-If you want to see baseball in Europe, find an Irish pub…they’re run by Americans.

-Pictures don’t do a justice to anything that I’ve witnessed here.

-And finally, every stereotype portrayed in My Big Fat Greek Wedding is ridiculously accurate. When they say that every word in English comes from a Greek word, they’re right. And they will be more than happy to explain it to you.

What I've Been Up to Lately...

Well, I’ve been here over a month, which is ridiculously hard to believe. In a way, it feels like I’ve been here for just a few days but when I think about all I’ve gotten to see and how close I’ve gotten to know some of the people it does seem like I’ve been here that long.

The last time I wrote on here I was a little frustrated with the school stuff going on and getting ready to go to Santorini. School is still ridiculous in a few aspects…It’s only three days a week, for starters. I’m definitely not complaining about that. Also, it’s been great to finally have all the registration mess cleared up. I wound up taking ancient Greek history, photo, and Greek language. Greek language is still insane. It’s lived up to all the hype that people gave it. Learning a language that is made of an alphabet with a bunch of shapes isn’t so great, but I’m enjoying it mainly because now I am understanding a lot more of what people say to me in Athens. History is great. There are three people in my class and my instructor lived in America until she got out of college, so it’s a nice breath of fresh air to have an American-born prof who can relate to us culturally. I’m learning a lot of pretty cool stuff in that class too. Plus, it’s one day a week for two hours. Not complaining there, either. And photo. Well, we haven’t exactly had an official class yet. Our instructor (who is actually a renown photojournalist for several major newspapers in Athens and also internationally) got into a motorcycle accident on the way to class the first week…which led to a cancelling of class and an interesting run-in with someone (more on that in a second…) so we’ve had one class with a substitute who seemed to know much more about the history of war than photography. It was a weird three hours to say the least.

Oh, and about the run-in with a certain person after that cancelled class. We sat for about half an hour for the photo prof and eventually an administrator came up to tell us that class was cancelled. The people in that class are all BCA American students so we all we pretty excited for a free day. We walked out, went to the post office and decided to go back into the Plaka (a section of Athens near the Acropolis full of shops and stuff) to do some shopping. As we walked from the main square to the Plaka, we heard a strangely familiar voice on the sidewalk talking to another American. There were only two guys with the group and we were kind of in the front of the pack….A few steps after I passed that recognizable voice I turned to my friend and started to say that it sounded strangely familiar. With that, we turned around and a few of the girls in our group were stopped and talking to none other than Kevin Costner. Turns out, he was in town doing a concert (who knew he sang?) and was just hanging out in Athens for the day doing some shopping. The ten of us got to hang and talk to him for about 5 minutes and he told us about his kids who were in college back home and he invited us to his show that night. We got a picture too (see facebook). Needless to say, it was pretty cool and we were all a little star-struck to meet the man who played Ray Kinsella in Field of Dreams, Crash Davis in Bull Durham, and Elliot Ness (thankfully he didn't respond like that when we asked him for a picture) in The Untouchables to name a few of his roles.

So that’s been the deal with school…not a ton going on on that front. Oh and a few crazy things about schooling here:

1. This is the first year of City U’s existence in their new building. It’s pretty nice. It’s small and is only made up of about 10 classrooms over 4 or so floors, but there is one striking difference from any other school building I’ve ever seen. There’s a bar. It’s absolutely hilarious. I walked into school a few days ago and saw the school president having a coffee and cigarette with some students. Now, it’s not that weird to have a café or something, but as I was leaving class later in the afternoon I saw bottles perched behind the bar and couldn’t believe it. I can just envision students walking out after a tough class and asking the bartender for a shot to ease their stress hahaha. It was definitely different considering Messiah won’t let you carry too much hand sanitizer without making you go to Alcoholics Anonymous. Anyway, that was definitely a shocker.

2. I’ve noticed a few educational differences. The classes are like once a week for three hours. However, the actual learning time is nowhere near that. Profs give breaks every hour on the hour for about 15-20 minutes a pop. It’s great. However, Greek students have come to expect these breaks. I don’t have any classes with Greeks but from what my American classmates have told me from their experiences here, Greek students show up with basically nothing besides their iPhones (to play games on) and don’t take notes and come and go as they please. One student even stopped a professor to tell him it was 8:02 and time for him to stop talking and give a break. I’ve also heard that many students don’t come back after the second break. They just decide to head down to the school bar and relax. I can’t imagine telling a guy who has a doctorate that he needs to shut up and let me take a leak. But hey, I guess it’s a cultural thing.

Anwyay, Santorini was the big thing looming last time I wrote. Needless to say, it was beautiful. We planned hardly anything besides the ferry tickets and it was definitely a unique experience. The ferry ride was 8 hours each way but it was pretty fun with a group of people like the one we had. We got there and were instantly bombarded by Greek hotel owners. These guys saw 18 college kids and that translated to big dollar signs considering it was the off-season in the Cycladic Islands. After a lot of debate and a ton of arguing between a few different Greek men over who saw our group first we went with a hotel that was 10 Euros a head per night including free transportation to and from the port. The place was run by a guy named Artemis who initially promised us a lot more than he actually gave, but whatever. The place was very nice and clean and just straight up beautiful. Nothing like palm trees and pools on October 18^th. Later that night we grabbed dinner where I had shrimp that was freshly caught and the size of small lobsters. Absolutely incredible. It was well worth the 20 Euros I forked over. Then later that night we went out and explored the town of Thera. We found some really awesome places to hang and even got to a place on the cliffs that had a great view of the town illuminated at night. It really did look like a postcard.

The next morning Artemis hooked us all up with a boat cruise down at the old port. It was about a half-hour walk down this zigzagged road covered in donkey poop, but it was a great experience. Once we got down to our boat we took it to an active volcano not too far off the coast of Santorini. The hike to the top was worth it and even though the weather was a little gross we had a great view of the main island. It was also pretty cool to see an active volcano and see gases coming out of the vents. The fumes were a lot hotter than I thought they would be and it was pretty sweet to see something I never have seen before. From that island, we had one more stop. This was the one we were all interested in…hot springs. We jumped off the side of our boat and swam to the hot springs that were in a cove near the island. The island was pretty much just a big rock that was uninhabited by humans, but covered in white specks that as we got closer, we discovered to be goats. The springs weren’t exactly hot…More like warm, but it was still a very unique experience and a great time. The water was kind of gross….it had brown flecks of earth which beared some resemblance to potential gifts from the goats, but we were assured it was safe to swim in.

When we got back to the main island, we got to experience the most essential part of a trip to Santorini: a donkey ride up a winding road to the top of the island. It was definitely one of the highlights thus far. We shopped around the town some more, went back to the hotel, got cleaned up, and then went out again until about 3 am.

The next day we got up at about 9 and headed to a beach. The black sand was very cool and the softest I’d ever felt. There was also a huge cliff that jutted out from the side of the beach and the water was as blue as the Greek flag itself. It was definitely a change from the beaches of LBI or even the Outer Banks. We were only there for a few hours, but it was a great time to relax and enjoy the fact that we were really blessed to be in the situation that we were. We took the bus back to our hotel and went to the town of Oia later in the afternoon to catch what turned out to be the most phenomenal sunset I’d ever seen.

To put it in perspective, Oia is the town that is in all the movies that take place in the Greek islands. Like the other towns, the buildings are all-white, but this town has something different. There’s something really charming about it and it honestly may have been the most peaceful, beautiful town I’ve ever seen. The famous blue-roofed churches are here, and it was spectacular to see what we’d all been looking forward to for the past 6 months. Oia was literally the most beautiful sights I’d ever seen and I remember thinking two things: “This is the place I am coming on my honeymoon.” And, “I am going to retire here.” If you ever are within a day’s travel of Santorini, get there. Seriously, it’s one of the places everyone should see.

The overnight trip was rough and I got about 3 hours of in-and-out sleep on the boat, but I wouldn’t have traded the weekend for anything. When I got back I was able to meet up with Erin McCarty and her boyfriend, Brendin, who are studying abroad in Rome and in Athens for the weekend. We hung out, went to some museums and they stayed the night at my apartment….we had a great time and even got to see some open-air performances in one of the squares that night.

Alright, this blog post is turning into a novel and I’ve got some stuff to do around the town here today. I’m going to climb Lycabettus Hill tonight with some the people that stayed in Athens for the night and then go to my first Greek soccer game at some point this weekend.

Yasas,

Ryan

Quick catch-up post...

We started classes today. I had Greek (which was insanely tough) and Ancient Greek History (taught in English). It looks like the semester is going to be the easiest one I’ve ever had and ever could imagine. I have photography tomorrow and another session of Greek on Thursday, and then a nice 4 day weekend for the next 9 weeks. It’s awesome not having class on Monday or Friday. I’m actually finding City University to be somewhat of a joke. They’re insanely disorganized and really dysfunctional when it comes to planning. I realize part of that is the carefree Greek culture, but I think it may have something to do with the school too. I mean, what school decides which classes to offer only after the students sign up for classes. A lot of my American classmates are starting to get really frustrated with the school and their lack of concern for our need to graduate in 4 years, not 8 like most Greek college kids…Despite all the frustrating things that have happened in the past week or so, things here are still awesome. I'm loving every second and couldn't ask for a better experience.

Overall though, things are going well here. Like I said, the trips were awesome and an absolutely amazing experience. I definitely saw and experienced Greece in a way that the vast majority of visitors or tourists do not. I’m getting a little homesick. The newness of Greece is starting to wear off. The ruins seem a little less impressive, the gyros seem a little less tasty, and my desire for a Philly cheesesteak or New York style pizza is increasing. I am kinda glad of one thing though. I still enjoy city life. I thought about living in Philly or something when I graduate and this seemed like a good test to that thought process. So far, so good on that.

I’m starting to have to adjust on my own, too. This week I’ve gone grocery shopping, dropped (and picked up) my laundry at the cleaners (10 bucks seems like a lot for wash, dry, and fold but once you’ve tried to do the laundry in the tub, it’s well worth it) and gone to the pharmacy on top of my normal duties such as class, etc. It’s definitely been a big adjustment to learn to do these things, especially when everything is in Greek. Try finding day-quil when the letters on the box look like the drawings of a 5-year-old kid. Not easy. Anyway, I am still loving it here, despite the slight twinge of homesick-ness and the nasty cold I am fighting off. We’re planning on going to Santorini this weekend, but apparently it’s supposed to rain. We’ll see. It sucks that the only rain in the forecast for the next few weeks is the one weekend we all decide to go to a world-famous island. We went to Aegina, an island about an hour away from Athens, and that was amazingly beautiful and lived up to any and every expectation about Greek islands. I can’t wait to see what Santorini has in store.

Oh! And before I wrap up, how could I forget...I met up with our family friend, Mr. Bauer yesterday for a traditional Greek lunch. It was hands-down the best meal I have had here. It included squid, whole fish (you ate the head, eyes, tail...everything. About the size of a sardine, maybe bigger...I ate a dozen) octopus with the suction cups still on, and tons of other delicious foods. The one that I had a hard time with, however, was the surprise of the meal. Goat testicles. I didn't know until after I'd swallowed what I had eaten. Definitely an experience to remember. Goat testicles aside, the food was unbelievable and the 4-hour lunch seemed to fly by and I had an awesome time.

Alright I need to catch some z’s. I have a Photojournalism class tomorrow at 10, and the toughest task will not be to learn, but to stay awake during the 3 hours.

Later,

Ryan

Monevasia Trip, etc....

It’s been a while since I posted on here so I figure I should keep up…it’s starting to get increasingly more difficult to remind myself to keep blogging. That may have something to do with a schedule that is picking up, or maybe because what used to seem so worthy of a paragraph now seems ordinary and repetitive (walking out of the subway and seeing the Acropolis, for example).

There has been a ton going on here since I last blogged….I don’t even know where to begin.

Well, we had a trip to the Peleponnese region of Greece. Talk about a beautiful place. I neglected to write about the actual driving part of the previous trips, but basically, once you leave the city of Athens, it’s like a different world altogether. Immediately you have to drive through the mountains to get out of the city and the surrounding suburbs, and for most trips, the drive is absolutely breathtaking. There have been several times where I’ve woken up from a nap on our (Mercedes-Benz) luxury bus to open my eyes and see the Mediterranean Sea and an olive grove out the window on one side and a huge mountain range on another. This country really is beautiful. Anyway, the drive was again really spectacular on this trip, just like the others, but also very long. The first day we went 3 or 4 hours to Monemvasia. It’s a little town on the Aegean Sea that is known for having this huge rock jutting out of the water with an ancient castle on top. First, though, we stopped in Corinth. This was a pretty cool town, much like the others that we saw (Delphi, Meteora, etc.) in the fact that it’s full of ruins and remains of ancient civilizations. Corinth, however was a little more significant because of what it meant biblically. It was really interesting to see the city Paul wrote his epistles to and places he referenced. Our director, Aphrodite, broke her leg, so we had a substitute, Stella. Stella knew a ton about biblical history and seemed to be a pretty strong Christian, so she really loved talking about Paul and his journeys. One of the highlights of Corinth was seeing the judgment seat that Paul had to sit on when he was in Corinth. Still though, the ruins seem to melt together into one big heap of rocks, pebbles, and pillars. It sounds bad, but at this point we were all ready to get to the hotel and relax on the Mediterranean.

Little did we all know what a great surprise Monemvasia would be…It may have been the best part of the orientation course next to the Meteora trip. We got there and found a little Venetian-style town situated under this mountain that was pretty much in the middle of the water.

After walking around the town a little, some of us decided to climb to the top of the rock/mountain/whatever you want to call it to check out the ancient castle at the top. This was the best part. The climb was a little tough and we were definitely sweating, but it was so worth it. I wound up alone at the top of the ruins and on one side of me was a thousand-foot cliff that dropped off into water that was probably deeper than I realized, but still clear enough to see to the bottom of. The other looked like a field, but with remains from 3000 year old castles and even a church that seemed to be in decent shape considering its age. This was definitely one of the best afternoons I’d had since coming here.

We spent the next few days seeing other stuff like that, ancient castles, monasteries, ruins, etc…Like I said, it seems to melt together in your memory as a bunch of rocks and stuff. The next-best part of that trip was ancient Olympia. The museum was worse than going to the dentist, but once we got to walk through the ruins, it was awesome. I mean, to think that athletic competition kind of got its start in that place was pretty significant. I even got to run in the area that was used for races 3000 years ago in the first Olympics. It all seemed a little unreal. You could tell Olympia has kind of been looked after because the ruins were preserved pretty well and the original stadium (the patch of dirt that we got to run on) was in good shape.

What happened when we left, though was one of the highlights of the trip not related to ruins, castles, or ancient Greece. We were walking out of the stadium, and I noticed a very nice van with a group of people surrounding it. I had heard the Prime Minister was in Olympia that day, so I walked over to the crowd and right up the Prime Minister and introduced myself. I got to shake his hand and when I greeted him in Greek, he responded in English, which was a little surprising. Turns out, he’s American educated and speaks perfect English. He was just elected last week, so it was cool to actually meet the ruler of the country I’m studying in…I’m thinking not many college kids studying abroad can say that.

Alright, I’m gonna wrap up, but, I figured since I’ve seemed to work a theme into most of these blog posts, I might as well throw another one out there. Basically, it’s a bit similar to the last one, but it’s something that struck me as I was sitting atop the ruins of a castle in Sparta. I really kinda felt like God was saying: All this stuff passes away. The tough times, the good times, everything. Your life ends. Even the kingdoms of rulers throughout history. Even their supposedly perfect castles and strong city walls. All that stuff is going to go away. God is the only thing that lasts. God was there when King Leonidas died fighting the Persians. He was there when Paul was preaching to the various regions of Greece. He was there when the Acropolis was built, torn down, and built back up over and over again. And He’s here now and He’s always going to be here, unlike any castles that break down or any emperors, tyrants, or rulers that claim to have a powerful kingdom. God’s kingdom is the only one that will ever stand the test of time. It was pretty mind-numbing to think that as I was sitting in a place that was once reserved for the ruler of all of Sparta. Mind-numbing, but also freeing at the same time.

Meteora and some other thoughts....

10/4/09
Welp, it’s been a while since I posted on here…partially because I am getting lazy, partially because I have had a crazy week, and partially because internet is getting pretty unreliable at good ol Dragoumi street. However, there is so much going on here that I had to post.
To start, we added one more person to our apartment. A Frenchman named Ludo…it will definitely be a new element as we learn to live with someone from outside the US. That happened early in the week, and we’ve not been around to hang with him a ton because we took an awesome trip further inland to a place called Meteora.
There are simply no words to describe this place. The only way I can sum it up is this. When I think about what heaven would look like, this place exceeds those mental images (minus the whole streets of gold thing). But no joke, Meteora was absolutely stunning. Basically, what it is, is a grouping of rocks about as high as the Grand Canyon sticking up out of a valley in the middle of Greece. On top of these rocks are monasteries basically built on the edge of thousand-plus-foot cliffs. These monasteries were pretty impressive too…it as cool to think that 15th century monks climbed these insane cliffs, built monasteries up there, and monks and nuns are still living there today. They were probably some of the oldest churches/monasteries still intact around here, and both beautiful and powerful to see at the same time. There aren’t any pictures up on facebook of inside the monasteries because you aren’t allowed to take photos, but trust me…they were very cool. Definitely thought-provoking to say the least. We had to drive about 5 or 6 hours, but I would have driven twice that far to see what we saw. There was also a very cool town situated in the shadows of the rocks that we took advantage of at night….Our group stayed at a nice hotel that had a sick view from the rooftop pool of the rocks. It certainly was something that most college kids would never have the experience of enjoying, so that was awesome. I really do hope to get back to Meteora again. If you’re ever in Greece, make the trip. It’s well worth it. Check out the photos on my facebook too, even though they don’t do a justice.
We were all pretty tired when we got back from the trip, but a bunch of us went out at night looking for a cool place to eat/hang out and we somehow wound up at Mars Hill (where Paul preached) in the middle of the night. It was pretty aggravating because we were lost, but man, the view at night was sick.
This morning I went to church at International Christian Fellowship of Athens. It’s kind of in a sketchy area of town and it’s in an insanely run-down building, but the congregation is made up of a very interesting group. It’s about 1/3 American, 1/3 Ghana-natives, and 1/3 Philippino. Definitely different than white-bread Medford, but I enjoyed it. We showed up late last week so we didn’t get to experience the entire service, but this week we arrived on time and although it was dramatically different than my home church, there was a lot that I appreciated from the service. The pastor did a good job and basically spoke to me when he said that God put me in Athens for a reason other than to just have a good time. It was definitely a challenge that I needed and it was really refreshing. After church I went with some people and we hung out in the main square in Athens…it was a great time and was good to talk about God with some people….it felt a little like home.
I have to go to the grocery store soon, but I’ll wrap up with something that has really been on my mind lately. God is huge. When I was at the top of thousand-foot cliffs in Meteora, I couldn’t help but think about how great God is and how his creativity, power, and size is simply unfathomable. I was speechless as I looked out and saw things that seemed impossible to process, much less think about how they were created. It was really mind-blowing. Adding to this whole thought process was the fact that I was in a church service surrounded by people of different nationalities, races, and backgrounds worshipping the same God who reigns over the whole world, not just our comfortable American suburbia. It has been awesome to see how huge God is and how he reaches people that we don’t think about.
Alright, I’m out of milk and toothpaste…I should really stop putting off getting those essentials.
-Ryan

9/26....Visiting the Acropolis, Mars Hill, and Ancient Agora

9/26

So we took our first daytrip with Aphrodite today…We went as a group to the Acropolis, Ancient Agora, and Mars Hill. Whatever I write here simply won’t do a justice to how amazing those places were. Even the pictures can’t show the impressiveness of those buildings, the antiquity of the ruins, or the feeling of standing where the apostle Paul stood 2000 years ago and preached to the Athenians. It was just awesome. We got on the metro and went three short stops (prob 5 minutes total) and when we got off the Acropolis was right there. We had all seen it before, but everyone was pretty pumped to get up there. First we went to Ancient Agora, which was basically the town meeting center, situated at the base of the Acropolis. It was beautiful and basically filled with gardens, ruins, temples of Greek gods and more ruins. Ancient Agora, for those who don’t know, was where the concept of democracy was thought up. It was awesome to sit there where Plato, Aristotle, and other big time philosophers thought up that stuff, especially, when it has such huge implications on our society in America today. Very cool stuff. We sat and listened to Aphrodite tell us about everything for about and hour or so, then made a quick stop at the Acropolis museum before we made the hike up to the top. The museum was cool…My favorite thing was the Spartan shield on display. It was easily 4 feet by 4 feet of pure bronze. I can’t imagine holding it, let alone fending off guys with swords.

Our first stop after that was Mars Hill. There was a plaque (see facebook pics) that I got a picture with before we climbed about 50 feet up rocks that marked the spot where Paul preached. It was in Greek so I had no idea what it said. However, the climb up the rocks was worth it. It was an amazing view and even cooler, it was cool to stand in a place that remains pretty much the same from biblical times and has such great significance in my faith. It was easy to see why Paul would preach from here. He had a natural speakerphone and could basically preach to huge crowds from a very recognizable point. Again, this was one of my favorite parts, just because it was cool to think of the spot that I was standing in, I’ve read about in scripture.

The main destination was the Acropolis. And man, it was up to the hype. The Acropolis consists of a bunch of temples, but the most famous is the Parthenon. I really can’t say how impressive these buildings were. Not only were they huge, but the way they were made must have been awesome for them to stand this test of time. It was a little disappointing to see scaffolding on the Parthenon, but still cool, nonetheless. There was really only one word to describe it…impressive. The Acropolis, according to Aphrodite, was built after a huge victory by the Greeks over the Persians. They built it to basically thank their gods for seeing them through victory, and while they were exhausted from battle, they went right to work. I couldn’t help but think, man, these Greeks must have loved their gods. Which led me to think even more, what would we, as Christians do for our God? Their gods clearly were fictitious, but ours is real, alive and more powerful than any figment of their imagination. He also paid a price for us that we will never be able to pay that is was more significant that any assist in battle…It made me wonder how willing I would be to carry rocks the size of Volkswagens up mountains for my God... It was a little sobering to think about that. It was definitely an awesome day filled with some great memories and I got to see some really awesome things. And that was all before 4 p.m.

Now, were heading out to dinner at one of the girl’s apartments and then out and around the city with a newly made Greek buddy, Deo.

Later

Ryan